Voters make voices heard in Windham and Raymond

By Ed Pierce

Civil rights icon Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. believed that our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter and was a strong proponent of exercising the right to vote. King would have been proud of those who turned out to cast ballots in Windham and Raymond in Tuesday’s municipal and statewide election.

A referendum for the construction of RSU 14's proposed
Windham/Raymond Middle School was approved by
voters in the school district on Nov. 7. FILE PHOTO  

After tabulating the results, Windham Town Clerk Linda Morrell and Raymond Town Clerk Sue Look have submitted the unofficial results for certification from the election.

In Windham, incumbent Mark Morrison tallied 4,204 votes to win re-election for a three-year term to the council for an At-Large position. Write-in challenger Zac Eklund received 947 votes.

Also in Windham, Morrell was re-elected to a two-year term as Town Clerk and ran unopposed, picking up 5,324 votes. Incumbent Brett Jones also ran unopposed for a three-year Town Council position representing Windham’s East District. Jones received 4,335 votes.

Windham’s Citizen-Initiated Recall Ordinance referendum passed with 3,448 voters in favor of the measure and 2,524 voters opposed to it.

The new Windham/Raymond Middle School construction referendum was strongly supported by Windham voters with 3,769 voting yes and 2,257 voting no in Windham.

Two candidates representing Windham for three-year terms on the RSU 14 Board of Directors were elected Tuesday from a field of four candidates vying for the positions.

Marge Govoni received 2,803 votes to win one of those positions while Joe Kellner tallied 2,574 votes to win the other remaining position. Justin Whynot received 2,306 votes and Dawn Miller received 2,084 votes.

Raymond residents cast 975 votes to oppose the new Windham/Raymond Middle School construction, while 739 voted in favor of the referendum.

Here’s how statewide referendum questions fared in local voting:

QUESTION 1: Do you want to bar some quasi-governmental entities and all consumer-owned electric utilities from taking on more than $1 billion in debt unless they get statewide voter approval? In Raymond, 1,206 voted yes, 487 no. In Windham, 4,051 voted yes, 1,840 no. Statewide, the measure passed, 65 percent voting yes and 35 percent voting no.

QUESTION 2: Do you want to ban foreign governments and entities that they own, control, or influence from making campaign contributions or financing communications for or against candidates or ballot questions? In Raymond, 1,511 voted yes, 214 no. In Windham, 5,235 voted yes, 766 no. Statewide, the measure passed, 86 percent voting yes and 14 percent voting no.

QUESTION 3: Do you want to create a new power company governed by an elected board to acquire and operate existing for-profit electricity transmission and distribution facilities in Maine? In Raymond, 1,245 voted no, 485 yes. In Windham, 4,457 voted no, 1,586 yes. Statewide, the measure was rejected with 69 percent voting no and 31 percent voting yes.

QUESTION 4: Do you want to require vehicle manufacturers to standardize on-board diagnostic systems and provide remote access to those systems and mechanical data to owners and independent repair facilities? In Raymond, 1,489 voted yes, 238 no. In Windham, 5,002 voted yes, 1,008 no. Statewide, the measure passed, 84 percent voting yes and 16 percent voting no.

QUESTION 5: Do you favor amending the Constitution of Maine to change the time period for judicial review of the validity of written petitions from within 100 days from the date of filing to within 100 business days from the date of filing of a written petition in the office of the Secretary of State, with an exception for petitions filed within 30 calendar days before or after a general election? In Raymond, 942 voted yes, 735 no. In Windham, 3,088 voted yes, 2,752 no. Statewide, the measure passed, 58 percent voting yes and 42 percent voting no.

QUESTION 6: Do you favor amending the Constitution of Maine to require that all of the provisions of the Constitution be included in the official printed copies of the Constitution prepared by the Secretary of State? In Raymond, 1,235 voted yes, 455 no. In Windham, 4,032 yes, 1,831 no. Statewide, the measure passed, 73 percent voting yes and 27 percent voting no.

QUESTION 7: Do you favor amending the Constitution of Maine to remove a provision requiring a circulator of a citizen's initiative or people's veto petition to be a resident of Maine and a registered voter in Maine, requirements that have been ruled unconstitutional in federal court? In Raymond, 1,210 voted no, 461 yes. In Windham, 4,291 no, 1,478 yes. Statewide, the measure was rejected, 68 percent voting no and 32 percent voting yes.

QUESTION 8: Do you favor amending the Constitution of Maine to remove a provision prohibiting a person under guardianship for reasons of mental illness from voting for Governor, Senators, and Representatives, which the United States District Court for the District of Maine found violates the United States Constitution and federal law? In Raymond, 999 voted no, 685 yes. In Windham, 3,471 voted no, 2,343 yes. Statewide, the measure was rejected, 53 percent voting no and 47 percent voting yes. <